Letter from Slim Wolfe
Review – April 2003 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
Your editorial on the inadequacies of America brings me to an interesting point, the realization that our proposed war is neither about weapons or oil, but it is about an inferiority complex. Listen to the rhetoric from Washington. What I hear is that if we can make some other nation roll over and, to be blunt, offer us the flaming rear end of surrender like a baboon, we might deceive ourselves into believing we are not on a sinking ship.
Seems to me we’ve been in decline since the 1970s and the more we lean on high-tech answers, the lower in the water we get. There might have been hope had we stayed out of debt for awhile, but money’s really not the answer either. Americans got a bad case of playing king-of-the-heap after World War II, when the rest of the world was in ruins, and it bugs us that we can’t lord it over some of our allies the way we once did. Republicans have now figured out how to tweak us in our inadequacy and make us jump through their hoops. Adolf Hitler played the same sort of game. So when I hear people complain about war for oil, I think that’s a bit of a dilution or oversimplification. This is more like kicking the dog to make us feel better.
Also, your book review of Islam vs. Terrorism bugged me just a little when you described Iranian customs as spooky.
I believe all those customs were also prevalent in western Christian society as well as in Asia (i.e. China) and the best way to describe some Islamic cultural traits might be archaic. And while archaic behavior may cure itself in time, there’s no indication yet that there’s any remedy for the future. When I hear that kindergartners now need to be sat in front of computers to learn the most basic elements of human interaction, namely phonics, I find greater cause to say, spooky. It’s just a matter of time before we put mammary glands on those screens, and have cyborg wars to claim sandfields for silicon extractions.
No nation, no religion, has a patent on brutal, repressive, unjust attitudes. Freedom of religion in America once meant freedom to drown in the ducking stool. Spooky thought, in the age of Bush the puritan.
Slim Wolfe
Villa Grove
The editor replies
Dear Slim,
Your views on culture are interesting and welcome, but I would like to make it clear that I didn’t describe Iranian customs as spooky — or at least I certainly didn’t intend to.
My criticism was not aimed at Iranian culture, but at the author’s techniques. Firooz Zadeh says Americans don’t know anything about the Middle East, but then instead of telling us more about the place, he tries to rationalize numerous Middle Eastern customs that Americans frequently criticize: e.g. selling children into servitude; forcing young people into unwanted marriages: and marrying very young girls to elderly men. And in doing so, I felt he merely succeeded in making their culture sound “creepy.”
Zadeh doesn’t write about Middle Eastern art, literature or families. He merely tells us that child-selling and forced marriages aren’t really so bad, and in doing so he only reinforces negative stereotypes without providing any bigger picture. But I didn’t mean to imply that Iranian culture was actually creepy. On the contrary, I wrote several paragraphs to show why I thought that Zadeh’s picture of the Middle East was neither complete nor accurate. But even so, I recommended Zadeh’s book because I think some of the things he has to say about American policy are important.
Now, however, I think you’ve brought up a whole different point: What should people think about the subjugation of woman and the selling of children? Is it “creepy” or is it “archaic”? Personally, archaic doesn’t necessarily sound better to me, but I leave that argument for another day.
Martha Quillen
